Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has said the rise in inflation arising from the closure of the country’s land borders is temporary and assured that it will lessen in the next three to four months.
A report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed inflation figures at a 17-month high, rise to 11.61% in October.
Read Also: Inflation Rises To 11.61 Percent In October
But speaking in an interview, the CBN Governor explained that while the impact of the border closure was partly responsible for the rise, the long-term objectives of the decision would, ultimately, be beneficial to the country.
“Inflation goes up from 11.22 to 11.61 between September and October, and mainly it’s because of the border closure,” Emefiele told Channels Television in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.
“I am not going to entirely disagree that yes, because of border closure that has resulted in some supply shortages because of goods that are being dumped into the country.
“Who are those benefitting, in as much as I don’t like the fact that prices went up momentarily from September and October, the beneficiaries are Nigerians and companies where we have seen a situation where people have jobs, farmers who produce poultry and those benefitting from import of cars legitimately.”
Read Also: Terrorism, Cyber Fraud Will Stop If Borders Remain Closed For Two Years – Emefiele
The CBN Governor said he was displeased with the inflationary pressure but assured that the trend will witness an immediate turnaround.
“In as much as I do not like the fact that the inflationary pressures are coming up right now, I’m also saying that it will moderate and very quickly, maximum of another 3 to 4 months aggressively downwards,” he said.
Discussion about this post